December 30, 2013 - Feliz Noche Vieja Familia!‏

First of all, I just want to let you know how AMAZING it was to skype with you on Christmas day!! Honestly seeing your bright smiling faces made my holiday season! It is so great to see and hear that you are all happy and healthy; it brought me great comfort. This past week has been such a great one, probably one of the best. I can´t believe that I already have one Christmas under my belt.  Here is our recap from this Christmas week:

Tuesday- Noche Buena was such a fun day here in Spain. We started with a nice District meeting where we all went around and bore testimony of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for His humble birth, and perfect example. I am so comforted with the testimony and knowledge that I have that He lives. After District meeting, we had a Zone White Elephant exchange where I scored a dartboard. Elder Ellsworth and I are really starting to get pretty good at darts...:) Christmas Eve we were able to help serve a family, which was in great need; this really helped opened my eyes. This Christmas has definitely been one of the most Spiritual Christmas´in my life. It was so nice to serve others, and feel the love that our Savior has for them. After, we were able to spend the evening with our family here. We read Luke 2 watched a few bible videos, and then bore testimony of our Savior´s humble birth. The spirit was very strong. Then we had a delicious ham dinner and concluded the night watching Christmas messages.

Wednesday- Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad! Wednesday morning, Elder Ellsworth and I woke up early to open up our Christmas gifts. We put our blankets on the ground to have some make shift carpet, and then we opened our gifts. Thank you so much family, the presents could not have been better, I loved everything! After presents we got ready and then traveled to Alicante to eat a Christmas breakfast with the District. We had a great morning, but of course we were looking forward to 6 to SKYPE! Wow Family.... I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible it was to hear from you "face to face"!! You all look so happy and healthy, and thank you so much for the surprise;) After saying goodbye was pretty tough, but thankfully our family here immediately took us back under their wing. They have been such a huge blessing for us during the holidays. I sure love them.

The rest of the week we just dived back into missionary work and I loved it. I am honestly loving this work! This past week we have placed a huge emphasis on chastity because of our Investigators circumstances. I am so grateful for the laws and ordinances within the gospel which help us lead happy lives. I am so grateful to share this light with others. This gospel has brought me so much happiness, direction, and peace and I love the opportunity I have to share it with others. We are so blessed.

Saturday morning we played soccer and.... I scored 3 goals!!! That may not sound like a big deal, but it is;) haha that is for you Naters! Everyone was just freaking out! They were very impressed with the tall American, it was so funny! "It must have been the socks" Thank you for the socks family!

I can´t believe that I already have a Christmas under my belt as a missionary! I have been imagining this moment my whole life, and could not have asked for a better first Christmas away from home. I love you all so so much and hope that you have a great week, and a very Happy New Year!!

The Pueblo Life,

Elder Dallin Farrell

P.s. Also transfer calls are this week, so please hold off on written letters this week just in case I get transferred to a new area! I will tell you all about it next week! Love you all!

December 23, 2013 - ¡Feliz Navidad!‏

I would like to begin today by wishing all of my loved ones back at home a very Merry Christmas. I am so very grateful for this wonderful time of year where we are able to reflect on the birth of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ. I love this time of year because amidst the hustle and bustle and the giving and receiving of gifts, we are able to remember the most precious gift this world has ever received. I sure love this time of year. Oh and fam.... I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO TALK! 2 short days... I think we can make it;) This has been the best week of my mission hands down. Here we go:

Lunes- This week was the week of finding. I mentioned it a little in my email home last week, but wow, we saw so so many miracles. I was a little nervous going into the week, just knowing how much we needed to do, but without a doubt this has been the best week of my mission. Monday night we were able to visit our main investigator. We met with him so much this week; he is one of my best friends. We shared with him the message "Dare to Stand Alone" and after we shared with him my mission call video. He loved it so much he posted it on his facebook for all of his friends and family to see. As we were leaving he offered the final prayer and said, "Please help me to find and meet new people so that I can introduce them to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ" This week he did just that.

Martes- This week we also spent some time at the sweet member family's home to practice for our talent which we shared Saturday night. This family is so incredible, and they are taking such great care of us. They invited us over for both noche buena (24th) and la navidad (Christmas). We will be spending the holiday with our family here! Tuesday night we went and met with [our main investigator’s] brother. He is 14 years old, and just as incredible as his brother. We had an incredible lesson with him, and were able to extend a fecha bautismal (baptismal date) with him for the 11th of Enero (January). Our ultimate goal is to have J´s father baptize him on the 4th and then have J baptize his brother the next week on the 11th. Also at the end of the lesson as we were walking back to Piso (our floor), J told us "I used to be the black sheep in my family. I use to party, grow my hair out, and be crazy. Now I have changed. I am the white sheep that is trying to save my family" This man has changed so much. He literally radiates light.

Miercoles- We met with some new people that live in the edificio de Oro (“gold building”). It turns out that they hardly speak any Español so we had a fun lesson. Something cool, we were able to find Moroni 10 IN the Arabic Book of Mormon. The Lord will always provide a way for His children to hear His word.

Jueves- Today Elder E and I taught a montón de lecciones (plenty of lessons). Thursday night I had a neat experience to teach a man who is trying to get into BYU. I taught with Elder Day who is in my same group. It is so incredible to see how much of a role the gift of tongues has played in 5 short months. What a huge blessing.

Viernes- J´s BDAY! We started the morning by going over to wish him a happy birthday and to celebrate with him. We brought him two wrapped gifts, "Joy to the World" and a CTR ring (Haz Lo Justo). Boy he LOVED the gifts, and has been wearing that ring on his pinky and showing it to everyone ever since! We took him and treated him to a nice Kebap for his Bday. It was such a great time, and he told us, "This is the best day of my life". I am so happy we could share it with him.

Sabado- Saturday night we had the ward Christmas party with both wards! J has been inviting all of his friends this whole week, so we were able to take a nice bunch from our area to the Cap to enjoy the Christmas activity. We began by watching the Christmas Devotional (which was incredible). After we had a noche de talentos (talent night) where Elder Ellsworth, the member family and I sang "Venid y Adoremos" (Come all ye Faithful) after we all enjoyed a great meal! It was a great turn out, and our investigators LOVED it! I will make sure to send some photos home tonight!

Domingo- Today was such a great day. We were able to invite J and his father, and the spirit was so strong. His dad´s story is long, so I will tell you all about it in two days fam! This family is a huge miracle.

This is only a sliver of this past week, but I feel like those are some definite highlights. Our mission has been so so blessed this past week, and the Lord’s hand has definitely been in this work for this past week of finding. As a mission we were able to find 847 new people that we pray we can bring unto the fold. This gospel is so incredible, and I am so grateful to be a member of it. I am so grateful for my testimony, especially for my testimony of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that He is the way, the truth, and the light. He is always there for us, He loves each one of us more than we will ever know. What a great time of year to reflect on His humble birth, and earthly ministry. May we all feel this love is my prayer.  Have a very Merry Christmas - I love you all!

Elder Dallin Farrell

December 16, 2013

Hello family and friends, thank you so much for all of the letters, e- mails, prayers, love, and support. It means so much to me, especially during this holiday season. This may be my first holiday season without a lick of snow, it is SO different, but I sure love the Pueblo Life! We had quite the interesting week:

So it all started last Pday when we went to play some fútbol with some other missionaries and ward members. It was such a fun time, and SO good to run around, and even toss an American football... wow it has been a while! Anyways, while we were playing, one of the Elders in my district, Elder Durfey, took a fall while fighting for the ball. It didn´t look very bad, and all thought he was fine so we just kept on playing. He sat out because his shoulder was hurting. He ended up going to the hospital to get it checked out, and it turns out that his collarbone, and shoulder were separated so he had to go into surgery on Wednesday, and spend two nights in the hospital. So that is where Elder Ellsworth and I were for two days of our week. We went to be with him, and give both him and his comp. Elder Day support and let them know that we were there for them. Like I said it was a pretty interesting experience. Hermana Deere called us and told us that we should be with him and also gave us permission to watch cartoons. I never thought I would say this, but it was actually really nice to watch Dora the Explorer, and Thomas the Train.... in Spanish;) haha... We also slept there both nights... Dentist chairs are not very comfortable. Everything with the surgery went well, and I am happy that we were able to be there to support him. Elder Ellsworth and I were very grateful to return home to our own beds.

On Friday, we returned from the hospital to our home. It was nice getting everything organized again, and getting back to work here in the Pueblo. We love it here. Friday night we planned for our Saturday morning cosecha (harvest), and also made a cake for our sweet member mother here for her birthday. We had a great time celebrating with them.

Saturday morning Elder Ellsworth and I held a cosecha (harvest) here in San Vicente. We had missionaries from the other district in the zone and members come to contact people on the street so that we could find more people to teach. This week our mission is holding a week of finding. We have a goal of finding 800 new investigators as a mission this week, which boils down to 8 new per companionship. This is by far more then our mission has ever found in one week. To give you perspective, we average about 275 a week. We are putting our faith in the Lord, and hands to the plow so that we may share this message of hope with many of God´s children - especially during this holiday season.

Sunday for church was the missionary’s day to give talks. We also sang a musical number as a district... and... I sang a solo in Spanish. Who knew?;) "Quiero ser como Cristo" It was such a great experience.

This week Elder Ellsworth and I found a new Mormon Message that we have really enjoyed sharing with members and investigators. It is titled, "What shall we give". It can be found on mormonchannel.org. I love this video because it just shows how life should be during this Christmas season. We all have the ultimate goal of returning home with our families and worshipping our Savior, but while in camino (on the road), we should do what the Savior would do and help people along the way. I am so grateful I have a home and a loving family to call mine. I love you all. Have the best week, until then.

The Pueblo Life,

Elder Dallin Farrell

December 9, 2013

Evening celebration with incredible member family

Hello sweet family and friends. Once again, thank you so so much for all of the birthday messages, letters, packages, and love you sent my way! I had a wonderful birthday here in Spain, definitely one I will always remember. This is going to be a shorter letter this week because of lack of time, but this week was easily one of the best weeks of my mission, if not the best.

This past week we found some more incredible investigators in what we refer to as the edificio de oro (the building where our golden investigator lives) As we were visiting with him this week we were able to find another woman that lived in the same building and we were able to visit with them multiple times this past week. I love this building because they all are so receptive, and love hearing the word of God from Elder Ellsworth and I. We met over there a few times this week, and in one of our lessons, we taught all nine of them at once and bore strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, the spirit testified of the truth so strongly. We also watched the Testament with them another day to give them a visual of what the Book of Mormon times may have been like. On Friday we celebrated M’s bday, and the next day they invited us back to celebrate mine.

Before I talk about my bday I would like to talk about our incredible investigator J. This past week we had so many incredible lessons with him. On Tuesday we brought him to the capilla (chapel) to meet with a member of the bishopric to talk about how we could help to resolve some of his problems. It was such a strong meeting, and Jose David finally asked what J wanted, without even thinking, he replied "Quiero Bautizarme" ( I want to be baptized) This man is incredible. It is not a question if he will be baptized, it is when. I know he is working through his problems, and we are here to help him. I love this man. He invited us over to his house to eat on Wednesday, he cooked us food from his country, it was delicious. I will make sure to include pics tonight! 

Saturday my Birthday! What a great day. In the morning, I woke up, cooked some solid pancakes, and then opened some gifts from my sweet family and friends. Thank you SO much! The shoes worked great this morning when we played futbol;) Thanks fam! At 10 we left to Alicante to help with a thing called cosecha (harvest). The whole zone went to the Hermanas area to help find future investigators to teach. We were street contacting for a good four hours, it was a good time. Guess who came? You bet... our investigator. He was so happy to help us. When we returned to his building after to celebrate my bday, he told all of his friends about his great opportunity to preach the word of God. I went on splits with a ward member for the cosecha, and we were blessed to find a few people. After, Elder Ellsworth and I returned to our edificio de oro (gold building) to celebrate with our investigators that live there. It was so so nice of them. They are very poor and all pitched in some money to make us a dinner of rice and chicken and also a nice cake to finish it off. They also gave me a nice gift of socks and gloves. It really meant so much to me because they literally have nothing. They sacrificed so much to make my birthday meaningful. What great people. From 6 30 to 8 30 we were able to help a ward member with a move. To end the night we were able to celebrate with our member family. As we entered their family room, it was all decorated with happy birthday stuff. They are incredible. I couldn’t have asked for a better 19th birthday!

This week was wonderful. The Lord has really blessed Elder Ellsworth and I in His work in this little part of His vineyard. I am so humbled and happy to be a missionary here and I pray that I may be able to do my part. I love this work, I love this gospel, and I love my Lord. Thank you so much for the continual letters, email, support, and prayers. I love you all!

The Pueblo Life,

Elder Farrell

December 2, 2013 -Thank You Thank You for the Birthday Wishes!‏

Hello family and friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, and feast, we truly have so so much to be thankful for. Thank you so very much for the continual support, e mails, letters, prayers, and especially for the Birthday wishes this week! Family! I received your package this week, and it meant so so much to me, so thank you for that! I have started the Christmas Advent Activity, and love it. I am excited to open up my gifts this Saturday, I wonder what they are;) Also, that stuffing was incredible. Thank you so much. Also, shout out to Calyn! I received two packages this week and loved it! Thank you SO much.

This past week has been one of the longest, fastest, happiest, weirdest weeks of my mission. I have mentioned it before, but the time on the mission is so weird. The days may seem long, but ALWAYS in hindsight I think to myself, where in the world did that week go... I am sure that is how the whole mission is going to go. Anyways on Tuesday we had a great District meeting. We put up an arbol de gratitud, and wrote on it all of the things we have to be grateful for. I loved doing that because although we didn´t even dent into all of the things we are grateful for it really opened our eyes to how much we have. This is the best time of the year because it is an opportunity for us to think beyond ourselves and serve others. One thing that incredible President Monson said when asked ¨what would you like for your birthday¨ he replied: ¨Go find someone that has it worse than you, and serve them.¨ I would like to echo his words this time of year especially in this Christmas season.

I just have so much that I want to write, and not nearly enough time to do so, so here are some of the highlights.

Thursday- THANKSGIVING DAY! This may sound interesting, but this year was the first year that I have ever fasted on Thanksgiving day. With all of our plans and citas set up for the weekend, Elder Ellsworth and I figured that Thursday was the only day that would work to fast for this upcoming month, so we did just that. Don´t worry, we did celebrate, just a little tardy;) That night, we visited a member family, and the mother offered one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard. In the middle of her prayer, she choked up, and thanked our Father in Heaven for allowing us to be there to help families like theirs to be together for eternity. She prayed for the welfare of our families back at home, and that we would be able to celebrate Thanksgiving together very soon, it was so sweet.

Friday- We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving! During medio dia, Elder Ellsworth and I cooked up a feast of chicken, corn, rolls, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy... SO solid! Obviously it wasn´t the same as home, but let me tell you, cooking for two is a lot easier than 22... ha you are a saint Mother! We took some great photos, which I will make sure to send home tonight! Also... we have begun listening to Christmas music in the piso, and it is INCREDIBLE. haha I don´t know what Elder Ellsworth and I would do without our David Archuleta Christmas...

Saturday- Saturday night was so much fun! The [member] family invited us over to their home to celebrate, and to help set up their Christmas decorations. It was so nice being in their home, listening to Christmas music, setting up their decorations, and finishing off with a nice meal and dessert. This family is a huge blessing to Elder Ellsworth and I. They really are taking such great care of us. I took some great pics, and actually captured a nice video that hopefully I will be able to send tonight!

Sunday- Sunday was a great day! To start off December right, we had three investigators show up to church and PARTICIPATE in fast and testimony meeting. We invited [them] and they all were happy to come. They all got dressed up and ready to come, they looked great. Midway through our investigator got up and bore his testimony. At first I was pretty nervous to hear what he had to say, but he bore such a simple and pure testimony. He said, "I am grateful for my Father in Heaven who lives and loves me. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. At first I wasn´t sure about the Book of Mormon, and what the missionaries were telling me about it, but I have come to learn for myself that this book helps people become closer to God, become happier, and become closer one to another." It was such a sweet testimony. I was just as shocked as everyone else in the congregation. It was a wonderful Sunday. That being said, that is my invitation to all of you. To find out for yourselves about the truthfulness and joy The Book of Mormon can bring. I love this Gospel, and I love this work. I also love my family, A LOT!

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! Can´t believe it is already here! 19 years old, que viejo soy! Jokes! Have the best week, and know how much I love each one of you!

The Pueblo Life,

Elder Farrell